Table of contents

HURLEY

The parish of Hurley covers an area of 4,159 acres,
of which 1,482 are arable land, 1,600 permanent
grass and 362 woods and plantations. (fn. 1) Great changes
have taken place in the constitution of the parish during
the last three centuries. A survey of 1609 shows the
parish divided into fields mostly of from 40 to 98 acres.
During the next two centuries the fields were divided
into small freeholds, of which the greater number
consisted of from 6 to 25 acres. Then these plots
were exchanged, the inclosures taken down and the
different holdings thrown together, so that the ordnance survey of 1875 shows fields of about the same
size as the survey of 1609. In 1609 there were 436
more acres of woodland than in 1792; since this
date 93 acres have been replanted. The underwood
was formerly used for the manufacture of hoops, and
the beech-wood was sold to firms at Wycombe for
chair-making; but these industries have been much
affected by the importation of foreign goods. Since
1875 about 900 acres of grass have been laid down,
mostly in 1884 and 1885, when it was found that
corn-growing could no longer be made profitable. (fn. 2)
A few of the inhabitants are employed in the brickworks and on the river.

The soil is gravel in the valley of the river and
chalk and heavy clay on the high land. There are
a number of disused quarries and chalk-pits in the
parish.

The Bath Road enters the parish at the hamlet
of Knowl Hill on the south, (fn. 3) and turning east at
Chalk Pit Farm passes Littlewick Green, a hamlet
which lies partly in the parish of Hurley. The
River Thames forms the northern boundary of the
parish, and here the land averages 100 ft. above the
ordnance datum. South of Hurley Bottom it rises
steeply and at Ashley Hill reaches a height of
475 ft.

The village is situated in the Thames Valley, a
little to the north of the main road from Henley to
Marlow, with wooded hills to the south-east. It
consists of the church and the remains of the priory
at the north end near the river, a few cottages of
comparatively recent date, and one or two private
houses. Hurley House, the residence of Mr.
Morris Richardson, stands at the south end of the
village. The present vicarage became church
property in 1844, when it was bought from the
Hon. Henry Walker, lord of the manor. The older
half of the house was previously a farm-house. (fn. 4)

On the east side of the roadway leading to the
church stands the Bell Inn, a two-storied half-timber
building of the late 15th century, considerably
modernized and added to in recent years, but still
retaining a fair amount of original work. As originally
erected the building appears to have been rectangular,
the northern end projecting slightly westward, with
a porch on the west front in the angle so formed.
The upper floor slightly overhangs the ground story.
The porch is of timber with the heads of the openings on the two open sides framed in the form of
four-centred arches, while the doorway has a head of
the same form. One original oriel window remains
overlooking the street from the first floor at the south
end of the building. It is divided into five pointed
lights by moulded oak mullions and has a moulded
oak sill. The roof is tiled and runs longitudinally
with the structure, but is cut into by the gable of the
roof over the porch and that of the projecting portion
to the north of it.

To the north of the church is Lady Place, the
residence of Mr. Laurence Hancock, a modern red
brick building, the successor of an older house built
on the site of the priory, which was the seat of the
Lovelaces, lords of the manor in the 16th and 17th
centuries (see below). In the grounds of Lady Place
are the remains of the walls of what was probably
the frater of the priory. These have been patched
up and added to and now form a large shed
running east and west, at the west end of which
have been built modern stables. It is doubtful if
more than the north wall of this building is mediaeval,
though in the upper part of the south wall are four
trefoiled single lights with widely splayed inner
jambs and two-centred segmental rear arches. Under
the second one from the east is a round-headed
external recess, and there is a similar opening under
the end one. In the north wall, however, are the
remains of three large early 14th-century windows.
They were pointed and probably of two lights each,
but the tracery and mullions have disappeared. High
up in the west end of this wall is a blocked mullioned
window of 16th-century date. This portion of the
building at one time contained two floors, but the
upper one, which cuts across the middle of the 14th-century windows, appears to have been inserted after
the Dissolution. The roof, which is tiled, is of the
queen-post type, and most of the timbers are old.
Joining the east end of this building with the east
end of the church is another block, now used as a
residence, in the walls of which a considerable amount
of old masonry has been used, while at the west end
of the stables are the schools, a quadrangle being thus
formed on the north side of the church.

In the grounds of the present house, to the southeast of the church, are some remains of the house
built in the 16th century. They consist of an
L-shaped brick chamber having a small closet opening
out of it on the south, at the end opposite to the
foot of the L. The main chamber is divided into
four bays by square brick piers, placed centrally down
the compartment, from the abaci of which spring
groined brick vaults, received upon responds on the
side walls. In the south wall are two three-light
square-headed windows with moulded stone mullions
and jambs, while in the west wall of the projecting
wing and the east wall of the closet are single-light
windows of the same character. The floor of the
building is some feet below the level of the ground,
which has been cut away to form a sunk area round
it. It is entered from openings in the side walls,
against which the earth has been banked up and overgrown with ivy.

The most surrounding the priory buildings still
remains on the north and east, but on the other two
sides it has for the most part been filled in. Two
fair-sized fish-ponds fed from the most on the north
form pleasing features in the garden of the present
house.

In a field to the west of the church are a 14th-century barn and a pigeon-house of the same date,
both of which no doubt originally belonged to the
priory. The former is built of chalk and flint, and
is rectangular on plan, with a short projecting block
in the centre of the east front. Along the sides are
double rows of narrow square-headed openings. The
roofs are of a moderately steep pitch, and the main
one is divided into eight bays by trusses of an
elaborated queen-post type with two purlins on
either side strengthened by curved wind-braces. The
pigeon-house stands to the south of the barn and is
of the same materials but rough-casted externally.
It is of a circular plan with four buttresses, each of
two offsets, and is crowned by a conical tiled roof.
From a central post is swung a ladder which revolves
round the house, thus enabling any of the holes to
be reached at one ascent.

On the west side of the roadway leading up to
the church, at the south-east corner of the same field,
is a second barn, somewhat smaller, but apparently
of the same date.

Besides the village of Hurley proper there are five
hamlets, Birchets Green (Byrchurst, xiv cent.; Birchestre, xv cent.), (fn. 5) part of Littlewick, Knowl Hill,
Warren Row and Cockpole. Knowl Hill (La Cnolle,
xiv cent.), which was formed into a separate ecclesiastical parish from Hurley and Wargrave in 1842,
contains a church and also a Baptist chapel. The
village is built round the common.

Hall Place, the seat of Sir Gilbert Augustus
Clayton East, bart., is situated near Birchets Green,
about a mile south-east of the village, and is surrounded
by a deer park of about 130 acres. The house dates
from the first half of the 18th century, the old
mansion having been pulled down by William East
after he bought the property in 1728. (fn. 6) Of the
earlier building, which was much larger than the
present one, nothing remains, but that the present
house is built on its site is shown by a site plan which
was made for the sale of the property and bears the
date 1725. This shows four avenues of limes, three
of which exist to-day, but the fourth, which was the
entrance to the old house, has disappeared. The
present house faces east and is built of red brick.
The centre block is three stories high and stands on
a basement, while on either side are lower wings projecting to the east. In the 19th century a large Doric
portico was erected in the centre of the principal
front. The walls of the drawing room, which overlooks the grounds on the west, are ornamented with
bold carved plaster reliefs, the dolphin and eagle being
largely introduced into the decoration. Over the
mantelpiece in bold relief is a portrait of Caroline
the Illustrious, and on the side panels are portraits of
the Prince and Princess of Orange, her son-in-law and
daughter. On a panel on the west side of the ceiling,
which is treated in a more delicate manner, are the
arms of East, a cheveron between three horses' heads,
and on the opposite side the monogram W.E. The
oak panelling in the smoking room, which is situated
in the southern wing of the house, was taken from the
manor-house at Kennington belonging to the family
of the present owner when it was pulled down in the
last century. Over the fireplace in this room is some
Gibbons carving.

Chalk Pit House, the property of Mr. G. S. Elliott,
is on the borders of the hamlet of Knowl Hill. Rose
Hill, on the west of the parish, is the residence of MajorGeneral Edward Micklem, and Park Wood, south of
Warren Row, of Sir Charles Solomon Henry, bart.

A messuage called Copyd Hall belonged in 1591
to Thomas Marriott and was then inhabited by Ralph
Dallene. (fn. 11) In 1638 it belonged, with 6 acres of
land, to William Hayward. (fn. 12) Another messuage
called Podgers (now Pudders) was at the end of the
16th century and beginning of the 17th century the
property of a family named Hayes. (fn. 13) Lands called
Owde House Groundes, containing 20 acres, belonged
at the beginning of the 17th century to Robert
Cutler, and passed in 1613 to his brother John
Cutler. (fn. 14) Golders Farm was leased by John Lord
Lovelace to John Saunders of Hurley in 1654, (fn. 15) and
Grove's Farm was leased by the same owner to
Nathaniel Cannon. (fn. 16) In 1641 Francis Mincklen
had licence to build a dwelling-house on his lands
called Calvesleaze. (fn. 17) containing 20 acres within the
forest, and to move his barn nearer to the intended
dwelling-house. (fn. 18) Dick Farm and Frogmill Farm
are mentioned as part of the manorial estate in 1664,
also lands called Pidgeonhouse Field, Sheephouse
Field, Bargeman's Field, 'the two Minnydons,' and
pasture called Fating Leaze. (fn. 19)

Hall Place, Birchets Green, Hurley

MANOR

The manor of HURLEY was held
under Edward the Confessor by Asgar
(or Esgar). his staller or master of the
horse. It was granted by William the Conqueror to
Geoffrey de Mandeville, (fn. 20) who at the instance of his
second wife Lasceline and for the soul of his first
wife Athelaise, the mother of his sons, granted the
vill of Hurley and the adjoining wood to the priory
which he had founded there as a cell of St. Peter's,
Westminster. (fn. 21) The right of the priory to the wood
was confirmed by the founder after certain of his
tenants at Waltham had committed waste there, (fn. 22)
and later William Earl of Essex confirmed the wood
belonging to the manor of Hurley and also the wood
belonging to the vill of Little Waltham to the
priory. (fn. 23) In February 1236 the prior obtained a
royal charter confirming the liberties of soc and sac,
toll and theam, infangentheof and outfangentheof,
and all the other liberties enjoyed by the Abbot of
Westminster throughout his lands. (fn. 24) The charter was
consequent, apparently, on a demand for 20s. by the
sheriff for view of frankpledge and 5s. for hidage,
from which a charter of liberties to Westminster and
its cells had made the priory free in the previous
July. (fn. 25) The new charter was to be read by the
sheriff in full court, also by the constable of Windsor,
by the bailiff of the Seven Hundreds, and by the
justices itinerant for the forest. (fn. 26)

In 1275 it was returned that 1 hide of land in
Hurley and Bisham called Chadenhanger, which had
been formerly held by Nicholas de Oxehache and his
ancestors, and which owed suit at the hundred court
of Beynhurst, had been acquired by the prior to the
damage of the king, (fn. 27) since the suit done by Nicholas
and his ancestors had been withdrawn. (fn. 28) The prior was
then said to hold pleas de namio vetito, to have gallows,
assize of bread and ale, (fn. 29) and the right of warren. (fn. 30)
He was presented for exceeding the limits of his own
chase and hunting in the king's forest, also for withholding the payment of 20s. to the view of frankpledge
and 5s. for hidage, (fn. 31) and for not permitting his
tenants to come before the king's coroners or to any
royal inquests held outside his liberty. (fn. 32)

A grant in 1401 from Henry IV gave licence to
the prior and convent to cut down and sell their
wood within the forest of Windsor to the value of
100 marks for the repair of the church, belfry and
houses. The charter mentions the fact that the
king's first wife, Mary de Bohun, was a descendant
of the Mandevilles, the founders of the priory. (fn. 33)

Hurley was included among the lesser monasteries
suppressed in 1536, (fn. 34) and the site and manor with
view of frankpledge were granted to the abbey of
Westminster in exchange for various lands in London,
exception being made of the great wood called
Hurley Wood, (fn. 35) which had been already granted to
the abbey in exchange for Convent Garden. (fn. 36) In
1540 the abbey surrendered to the king, and in the
following year the manor of Hurley, with the fishery
in the Thames and the 'game of swannes there,' was
granted to Charles Howard. (fn. 37) Howard sold the
property in 1543 to Leonard Chamberleyn. (fn. 38) Chamberleyn conveyed the manor in 1545 to John
Lovelace, to whom he gave a receipt for the purchase
money between 2 and 3 o'clock
P.M. at the font of St. Paul's
Cathedral. (fn. 39) The grant was
to take effect after the expiration of a lease granted for
nineteen years in 1544 to one
Ralph Nutting. (fn. 40) John Lovelace died in 1558, his will of
that year being dated at 'the
mansion called Ladye Place,'
which he had evidently built
on the site of the ruined priory
and named from its dedication in honour of the Blessed
Virgin. (fn. 41) Richard Lovelace,
his son and heir, was involved in 1563 in a suit with
his mother Grace and her second husband Richard
Stafferton, who claimed one-third of the manor as
dower, in addition to Lady Place and other premises
settled on her by will. (fn. 42)

Richard Lovelace was succeeded in March
1601–2 by his son Richard, who was then thirty
years of age. (fn. 43) He was dealing with the manor by
fine in 1616. (fn. 44) Having fought in the Irish Wars he
was knighted at Dublin in 1599 and created Lord
Lovelace of Hurley in 1627. (fn. 45) He died in 1634,
leaving a son and heir John and a second son Francis,
who dealt with the manor by fine (fn. 46) and recovery (fn. 47)
in 1655 and 1656. John Lord Lovelace made a
settlement of the manor in 1657. (fn. 48) In 1663 he
levied a fine (fn. 49) preparatory to a settlement on
Martha, wife of his son and heir-apparent John
Lovelace, daughter and co-heir of Sir Edmund
Pye. (fn. 50) John Lovelace the younger came into possession of the estate in 1670, (fn. 51) and in 1678 made a
settlement of the manor. (fn. 52) His father had been an
ardent Royalist, but he was a Whig, and was arrested
in 1683 for alleged complicity in the Rye House
plot. It was during his brief tenure of the manor of
Hurley that meetings were held in the vault beneath
Lady Place by the followers of William of Orange.
He was arrested and imprisoned by order of James II
in 1688, but regained his liberty upon the accession
of William III, who made him captain of the gentlemen pensioners. (fn. 53) After his death in 1693 he was
succeeded in the peerage by his cousin John Lovelace,
grandson of Francis mentioned above, whose inheritance consisted chiefly of debts. The manor was sold
by decree of the Court of Chancery, and is said to
have been bought by Vincent Oakley, a solicitor, for
himself and his clients. (fn. 54) In 1708 Oakley sold the
more valuable part of the property, including the
manorial rights and the great tithes, to the trustees
of the will of Sir Robert Gayer. (fn. 55) His son Robert
Gayer of Stoke Poges, presented to the church
in 1723. (fn. 56) James Gayer, D.D., his second (fn. 57) but
apparently eldest surviving son, was holding in 1765. (fn. 58)
Three years later he parted with the estate to George
Duke of Marlborough, who in 1790 sold it to Thomas
Walker. (fn. 59) The granddaughter and heir of the latter
married Henry Jeffery, fourth Lord Ashbrooke, who
held it in her right after her death in 1810. (fn. 60) Their
son, the Hon. Henry Flower (afterwards Walker, which
name he took on coming of age) (fn. 61) Viscount Ashbrooke,
sold the estate together with the other less valuable
part, which he had acquired from the relatives of
Mr. Richard Troughton, to the trustees of the late
Sir Gilbert East, bart., of Hall Place, in 1841. A
portion of the manor, including Lady Place, was
purchased with their consent by Colonel Thomas
Peers Williams of Temple House, Bisham. (fn. 62) Sir
Gilbert Augustus Clayton East, bart., of Hall Place,
is the present lord of the manor.

Lady Place was tenanted after the death of Lord
Lovelace in 1693 by Mrs. Williams, the sister of
Dr. Wilcocks, Bishop of Rochester, whose daughter
and heir married Dr. Lewin, chancellor of Rochester. (fn. 63)
After Mrs. Lewin's death the mansion reverted to
her nephew Joseph Wilcocks, who earned from Pope
Clement XIII the title of 'the blessed heretic,' by
reason of his many charities and other good works. (fn. 64)
He died in 1791, and the last tenant of Lady Place
was Gustavus Adolphus Kempenfelt, whose brother
Admiral Kempenfelt went down in the Royal George,
29 August 1792. The house was pulled down in
1837.

A mill and two fisheries at Hurley are mentioned
in the Domesday Survey. (fn. 65) The mill is mentioned
in the grant of the manor to Westminster Abbey in
1536, (fn. 66) and the fishery is included in the grant of
1541 to Charles Howard. (fn. 67) In 1685 John Lord
Lovelace leased the mills for two years to William
Drake, miller, at a rent of £59. (fn. 68)

THE HALL or HALL PLACE

THE HALL or HALL PLACE appears to have
been an estate of a family called Hurley. John
de Hurley was a landholder in Hurley in the first
half of the 13th century. Disputes with the prior
about the payment of Peter's pence, about attendance at the prior's view of frankpledge, and about
his right to take estovers in the prior's wood were
settled by arbitration in 1234. (fn. 69) John appears to
have been succeeded by Robert de Hurley, to whom
the prior quitclaimed a certain meadow (wyca) in
Hurley about 1254. (fn. 70) In 1274 Robert executed a
bond to refer to certain arbitrators, of whom one was
the Abbot of Medmenham, any fresh disputes which
might arise over wood, warren or other matters after
the settlement which had then been made by Robert
and his son Ralph and the latter's brothers to the
prior's satisfaction. (fn. 71) Robert de Hurley was living
in 1295, when he granted to the convent 3 acres
of land super Staundone and 1 subtus Staundon in exchange for the croft called Clemencehulle and land
under Mareysdoune. (fn. 72) Ralph had succeeded before
1301, when the prior sued him for exceeding the
right to 'reasonable estovers' for housbote and heybote in the wood of Hurley granted to John de
Hurley. (fn. 73) In 1320 Geoffrey, brother and heir of
Ralph, quitclaimed the estovers to the prior, (fn. 74) who
granted a corrody to him and his wife Isabel and his
daughter Amice, and also recognized his claim to a
view of frankpledge to be held by the prior's stewards
outside the priory gate on the day that the prior's
view was held. (fn. 75) Geoffrey made a marriage settlement of his lands on his son William and the latter's
wife Christine in 1318. (fn. 76) He also had several
daughters on whom he settled lands. (fn. 77) William was
dead by 1325, (fn. 78) and Geoffrey himself died in 1326
or 1327. (fn. 79) The lands held by the two widows
Isabel and Christine and the greater part of the lands
settled on the daughters were acquired by the Prior
of Hurley in 1340–3. (fn. 80)

The heir of Geoffrey de Hurley was Ellen wife of
John de Amersham, a minor, presumably the daughter
of his son William. (fn. 81) In 1331 Thomas de Amersham,
her guardian, leased 'the Stonehouse,' which she had
inherited from Geoffrey, to Walter le Cook, (fn. 82) and in
1337 Ellen with her husband granted the house to
him in perpetuity. (fn. 83) In 1344 Walter le Cook quitclaimed it to the prior. (fn. 84) John de Amersham was
probably dead by 1361, when Thomas his son acquired
a messuage in Hurley from Margery Howton, daughter
of Geoffrey de Hurley. (fn. 85) Ralph son of John de
Amersham apparently succeeded before 1372, when
Richard atte Boure, citizen of London, assigned the
'manor of Hall' to the priory, (fn. 86) evidently on behalf
of Ralph de Amersham, (fn. 87) who quitclaimed to the
prior in 1375. (fn. 88)

Hall Place was among the possessions of Hurley
Priory at its dissolution, (fn. 89) and in 1536 was farmed
by Katherine Burges and William her son. (fn. 90) It is
described as a capital messuage in 1573 at the death
of Andrew Newberry, who had settled it in 1557 on
his son William. (fn. 91) In 1591 information of intrusion
was laid against William Newberry for entering upon
the queen's property of Hall Place (fn. 92) and in 1609 it
was granted, as late of Hurley Priory and afterwards
of St. Peter's, Westminster, to Edward Charde and
Robert Fawcett in trust for Sir Richard Mompesson,
then the occupant. (fn. 93) It appears to have been acquired
by Henry Alford, son of John Alford of Fawley, for
in 1623 he is returned as of Hall Place. (fn. 94) He then
had a son William, aged sixteen. (fn. 95) Nothing further
is known of its history until 1725, when it was
purchased from Sir Jacob Banks by Richard Pennel, (fn. 96)
who sold it three years later to William East of
the Manor House, Kennington. (fn. 97) The latter pulled
down the old house and built the new one (see
above). He died in 1737, and was succeeded by
his son William East, (fn. 98) created a baronet in 1766.
His son Gilbert, who succeeded him in 1819, died
without issue in 1828, when Hall Place devolved on
his nephew Sir East George Clayton, second son of
his sister (of the half blood) Mary wife of Sir William
Clayton, bart., who in 1829 assumed the surname of
East and in 1838 was created a baronet. (fn. 99) He died
in 1851 and was buried at Hurley. Hall Place
descended to his son Sir Gilbert East, second baronet,
who died in 1866 and whose son Sir Gilbert Augustus
Clayton East, bart., is the present owner.

Clayton. Argent a cross between four roundels sable.

East. Sable a cheveron between three horses' heads razed sable with three horseshoes sable on the cheveron.

CHURCHES

The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN consists of a continuous nave
and chancel measuring internally
93 ft. 8 in. by 19 ft. 6 in., the chancel being 25 ft.
in length, a vestry to the east of the chancel, and a
timber bell-turret rising above a gallery which is built
across the west end of the nave.

The present building, with the exception of the
15th-century bell-turret, dates from the latter part of
the 12th century. In 1852 an extensive restoration
was undertaken, when the windows in the north wall,
which were formerly closed, were reopened and those
in the south wall repaired. At the same date a
pseudo-Norman reredos was inserted to the west of
the easternmost window in the side walls of the
chancel, the space to the east of it being utilized
as a vestry.

In the east wall are two round-headed lights with
a smaller circular window above. The glass is set
near the outer faces and the inner jambs are splayed.
The external stonework is modern, but the inner
jambs may be of the 12th century, though they have
been scraped in recent years. In the north wall are
three round-headed windows with original splayed
inner jambs and renewed external chamfers. The
easternmost window is blocked by the building which
adjoins the church on the north. Of the three
windows in the south wall, the two easternmost are
similar to those in the north wall, but the third was
inserted about 1330 and is much in its original state,
though the sill is modern. It is of two trefoiled
ogee lights with tracery of a reticulated character under
a pointed head. The inner jambs are splayed, the
outer ones moulded, and there is a moulded external
label with modern head stops. Below this window
is a small ogee-headed recess, rather later in date,
with sunk spandrels forming a square outline. The
jambs are moulded and the head was originally
cinquefoiled, but the cusping has been broken away.
A little to the east is a modern priest's doorway.

In the north wall of the nave are four round-headed
windows placed at the same level as those in the
chancel. With the exception of the second from the
west, which is larger than the others and entirely
modern, all the openings appear to be original,
though the outer jambs and heads are modern and
the inner splays are restored. Between the second
and third windows from the west end, and visible
only from the outside, is a blocked round-headed
doorway of two square orders with quirked chamfered
abaci at the springing of the head, over which was
originally a label, now broken off flush with the wall
face. The south wall is pierced by six round-headed
lights like those in the wall opposite. All these
appear to be of the 12th century, but the whole of
the outer stonework has been renewed with the
exception of that of the two middle windows, which
may be the original chalk scraped. Under the third
window from the west is a round-headed doorway.
But for one or two stones in the south jamb all the
external masonry is modern, though the inner jambs
are contemporary with the walls and have shafted
angles with small scalloped capitals from which springs
the semicircular rear arch. The west doorway has
also been considerably restored and has had a square
opening of modern stonework inserted within the
outer order and inner jambs of the round-headed
12th-century work, which is very decayed in parts.
The outer order of the external arch is carved on
both face and soffit with an elaborate cheveron
enrichment, and is carried upon shafted jambs having
scalloped capitals with quirked chamfered abaci. The
hood mould is modern, but the inner jambs are
similar to those to the south doorway. Above the
doorway is a large round-headed window of contemporary date. Externally it has attached jamb shafts
with scalloped capitals from which springs a square
order enriched like the head of the doorway beneath
it. The head is mostly modern and the hood mould
is entirely new, but the jambs appear to be in the
main original. Internally the window is splayed and
has shafted angles with scalloped capitals. The walls
have a modern facing of flint and chalk with stone
quoins, and are plastered internally. At the western
angles of the nave are large clasping buttresses of
considerable projection. The roofs, which are all
tiled, are modern.

The fine octagonal font is of early 15th-century
date. It tapers towards the bottom, and the sides
have traceried panelling with small buttresses at the
angles.

In the floor of the nave are three black Purbeck
slabs in which were originally set brasses. The
easternmost has the matrices for a figure and an
inscription under, while above is still preserved a
scroll inscribed in black letters 'Jhū m[er]cy lady help.'
In the bottom dexter corner of this slab is another
scroll, inscribed 'Jhū mercy,' while in the bottom
sinister corner is a similar one, inscribed 'lady help.'
The next is a larger slab, and has matrices for the
heads and shoulders of two figures under canopies,
while the third has the matrices for a large floreated
cross and an inscription. Set in another Parbeck slab
is a brass with a Latin inscription in elegiaces to John
Doyly, who died 10 February 1492, the date of the
year being in Arabic numerals. Set against the north
wall of the chancel is the early 17th-century Lovelace
monument; it is in a very dilapidated condition and
does not appear to be complete. A large strapwork
panel contained the inscription, none of which now
remains; this is flanked by detached Ionic columns
supporting an entablature, above which is a second
stage divided into three panels by small Doric columns,
the central panel containing the shield of Lovelace
quartering Eynsham differenced with a molet. In
the vestry are preserved the upper portions of two
male figures dressed in Elizabethan costume, which
originally formed part of the Lovelace monument.
Above one of them is an inscription commemorating
Richard, son of John Lovelace, who died 12 March
1601–2, and over the inscription is a circular panel,
with a quartered shield of Lovelace impaling Azure a
cross paty or. Over the other figure is an undated
inscription commemorating Sir Richard Lovelace, kt.,
son of Richard Lovelace; above in a circular panel are
the Lovelace arms impaling (?) Dodsworth. In the
vestry are also preserved what appear to be the moulded
jamb and pointed head of a 15th-century rounded
piscina recess. Hanging on the east wall of the vestry
are two large 18th-century wooden panels, painted
with the figures of Moses and Aaron.

The grant of a rent due from Richard de la Strode
(cf. Strowdes in Remenham) and others for land in
Hurley was made to the Prior of Hurley by John
Cocus in the second half of the 13th century, for the
upkeep of a candle before the altar of St. Mary and
St. Leonard the Confessor during celebration of the
mass of St. Mary. (fn. 100) There was a belief current
in the 14th century that Edith, sister of Edward the
Confessor, was buried at Hurley. (fn. 101)

There is a ring of three bells: the treble is by
Thomas Mears, 1829; the second, by John Saunders,
of the 'Wokingham-Reading-London' Foundry, is
inscribed 'Scte Sebastiāe' in black letters, between
which are interspersed a number of 'S' stops; and the
tenor, by Joseph Carter, is inscribed, 'This bell was
made 1602.'

The plate consists of a silver foot-paten of 1693,
a large silver cup of 1655 with a cover of 1635, and
a silver flagon of 1695. They are each inscribed,
'The Gift of ye Honoble Sr Henry Johnson Knt to
ye Parish Church of Hurley 1695' and the first two
places are each engraved with a shield of his arms.
There are also a silver spoon and a small metal
credence paten.

The registers previous to 1812 are as follows:
(i) all entries 1560 to 1686 (the last few entries are
rather fragmentary, through parts having been cut
away); (ii) baptisms and burials 1683 to 1746, marriages 1685 to 1746 (this volume has the following
note at the end of the burials for the year 1685,
'Memorand many Names Cut out of ye old book by
Nich: Row.'); (iii) all 1746 to 1754, baptisms
and burials continuing on to 1812; (iv) marriages
1754 to 1798; (v) marriages 1798 to 1812.

The church of ST. PETER, Knowl Hill, was
built in 1840. It is a red brick building with stone
dressings and consists of a chancel in 13th-century style
(added in 1871), nave, and western tower with spire.
The living is a vicarage in the gift of trustees.

ADVOWSON

The church at Hurley is mentioned in the Domesday Survey. (fn. 102)
It was given by Geoffrey de Mandeville to the priory of Hurley by the charter of foundation. (fn. 103) In 1233 the king made a grant of twenty
trees from the forest of Windsor for restoring the
church. (fn. 104) The church was assessed at £10 in 1291
and returned as free from taxtion. (fn. 105) In 1385 John
Terry granted certain tenements in Hurley to the
priory for finding a taper to burn daily in their
church before the high altar. (fn. 106) After the dissolution
of Hurley Priory in 1536 the rectory and advowson
of the vicarage were granted to the Abbot and
convent of St. Peter's, Westminster, (fn. 107) and followed the
descent of the manor (fn. 108) until 1848, when Sir E. G.
Clayton East sold the advowson to the Rev. F. J.
Wethered, (fn. 109) who died in 1867, and whose successor,
the Rev. F. T. Wethered, is the present incumbent.

In 1633 an agreement was made between Richard
Lord Lovelace and Nathaniel Cannon, then vicar, by
which certain sums of money were to be in future
paid by Lord Lovelace in lieu of all tithes. (fn. 110)

The tithes of the district of Knoll or Knowl Hill,
called also the parsonage of Little Waltham, (fn. 111) were
separate from those of Hurley and were possibly
once the endowment of a chapel there. (fn. 112) At the
Dissolution these tithes were reckoned a parcel of the
rectory of Hurley (fn. 113) and they subsequently remained
in the same hands as the rectory.

CHARITIES

In 1625 Sir Richard Lovelace,
kt., by deed enrolled in Chancery
29 January 1639–40, granted (a) an
annuity of £ 6 13s. 4d. to the vicar for preaching a
sermon in the parish church once every other Sunday
and asking God's blessing on the founder's family,
and (b) another annuity of 10 quarters of rye to the
churchwardens and overseers for distribution among
ten poor persons, with a preference to those having
large families.

Charity (a) is regulated by a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners, 1898, the vicar receiving £3 13s. 4d.
from the owner of Beeches Farm and £3 from the
owner of Pebworth Farm, both in the parish of
Aldworth.

Charity (b). In lieu of the 10 quarters of rye,
yearly sums of £8 18s. 9d. and £7 6s. 3d., making
together £16 5s., have been received from the
owners of the same two farms respectively, which is
distributed in bread by two trustees appointed by the
parish council, in quantities of one gallon per week
for eight or nine months of the year, to each of ten
poor parishioners.

The table of benefactions mentioned that Mrs.
Lewin (who died in 1763) bequeathed £5 a year for
five poor families. The annuity does not appear to
have ever been paid.

Joseph Wilcocks, by will proved in the P.C.C.
7 January 1792, gave a sum of £2,500 stock to the
treasurer of Westminster Hospital, London, in memory
of Joseph Wilcocks, many years Dean of Westminster
Abbey, in consideration of which the said hospital
should receive yearly at least three in-patients from
this parish.

The four charities next mentioned are likewise
administered by two trustees appointed by the parish
council, namely: Francis Bradley's, mentioned in
the table of benefaction as founded by will 1730,
now consisting of 3 r. 8 p., known as Bradley's Acre,
part of a large field, and let at £1 10s. yearly,
which is usually applied in the distribution of blankets
and flannel.

Joseph Benwell's, by will 1773; legacy now
represented by £64 10s. 5d. Bank of England stock,
producing about £6 2s. a year, which is applied in
the distribution of five or six coats and the like
number of shawls to poor men and women.

Gustavus Adolphus Kempenfelt's, will proved in
1808; legacy now represented by £142 14s. 11d.
Bank of England stock, producing about £13 10s.
yearly, which is applied in distributing a quilt and
a pair of blankets to about twenty-eight recipients.

Henry Micklem's, will proved at London 31 January 1860; legacy represented by £33 6s. 1d. Bank
of England stock, producing about £3 3s. a year,
which is distributed in flannel to about twenty poor
persons.

The several sums of stock are held by the official
trustees.

In 1813 Sir William East, bart., by his will
directed his trustees to apply the dividends of twelve
shares of the London Assurance Corporation for the
support of a poor man and his wife, to be nominated
by the future owners of the Hall Place estate. This
charity for some years fell into abeyance, but was,
through the intervention of the Charity Commissioners, reconstituted in 1879 by the transfer to the
official trustees of £200 consols, and by the investment of accumulations of income amounting to
£464 15s. 4d., and of £742 12s. 6d., arising from
proceeds of sale of the shares in question. The trust
fund, after payment of legal costs and expenses
incurred in the reconstitution of the charity, now
amounts to £1,396 19s. 9d. consols with the official
trustees, the annual dividends of which, amounting to
£34 18s. 4d., are, under a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners, 28 June 1895, made applicable in
the payment of pensions of not less than £15 and
not more than £25 a year to poor men of good
character and married at the date of their appointment and qualified as therein mentioned.

The church estate was the subject of proceedings
on an inquisition of charitable uses taken at Workingham, 6 April 1609. (fn. 114) The property now consists of
four cottages with gardens, one of which was formerly
used as a poor-house and is now let on lease at the
yearly rent of £75. There is also a sum of £325
representing surplus income in the Post Office Savings
Bank. The income is applied by the vicar and churchwardens, who were appointed trustees by order of the
Charity Commissioners, 22 July 1864, towards the
maintenance of the parish church.

The Birchets Green Church of England school,
erected on land conveyed by Sir Gilbert Augustus
Gilbert-East, bart., by deed poll dated 18 August
1868 (enrolled), has no endowment other than the
site and buildings.

The Hurley Church of England school was conveyed by Arthur Frederick Lobb to the vicar and
churchwardens by deed 31 March 1877 (enrolled),
and has no endowment other than the site and
buildings.

In 1901 Henry Micklem, by will proved at
London 26 February, bequeathed £100 to the vicar
and churchwardens to be invested and the income
distributed amongst the poor in such manner as
they might think fit. The legacy was invested in
£105 19s. 2d. consols with the official trustees; the
dividends, amounting to £2 13s., are applied from
time to time in gifts of 5s. each or in groceries and
provisions.

St. Peter's, Knowl Hill— The church endowment
funds consist of £1,333 6s. 8d. local loans 3 per cent.
stock with the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, producing £40 a year, arising from the redemption in
1882 of a rent-charge of £40 granted by Sir East
George Clayton East, bart., by deed 20 August
1841; £105 1s. 5d. consols with the official trustees,
producing £3 3s. a year, given by the same donor as
a repair fund; a yearly rent-charge of £10 issuing
out of the impropriate rectory of Wargrave, the gift
in 1841 of Lord Braybrooke; and £34 4s. 11d.
Bank of England stock with the official trustees, producing about £3 5s., representing a gift in 1842 of
£100 by the Rev. William Vansittart, D.D.

In 1899 Miss Cecilia Emilia Bulkley, by her will
proved at London 12 August, bequeathed to the
vicar £100, the income to be applied in the purchase, at the village of Knowl Hill, of fuel and other
articles in Kind, to be distributed among five old men
and five old women at Christmas each year. The
legacy was invested in £96 11s. 2d. consols in the
names of the Rev. Frederic Campbell Barham and
another, and the yearly dividends of £2 8s. are duly
applied.

In 1902 Fanny Elizabeth Whitehead, by her will
proved at Oxford 4 March, bequeathed to the vicar
and churchwardens £100 to be invested for the
benefit of the poor. The legacy is represented by
£107 5s. consols in the names of the Rev. F. C.
Barham and the two churchwardens, producing
£2 13s. 4d. yearly, which is applied with the income
of the next mentioned charity in the distribution of
coals.

In 1905 Miss Thomasina Elizabeth Fawsett, by
her will proved at London 31 March, bequeathed to
the resident incumbent of Knowl Hill £800 free of
duty, upon trust to apply the annual income in the
purchase of coal and other useful articles, and to
distribute the same on Christmas Eve in every year
among such of the poor parishioners as he should
deem most deserving. The legacy has been invested
in £819 8s. 3d. Metropolitan 3 per cent. stock with
the official trustees, producing £24 11s. 8d. yearly,
which is applied, with the income of Whitehead's
charity, in the distribution of coals to about 130
recipients.

Louisa Caroline Wigney's charity —A sum of
£20 a year is received out of the income of this
charity and applied by the vicar by way of bonus
to be paid to the members of the parish provident
club.

Footnotes

3. In 1333 there is a conveyance of an
acre of land in 'Little Waltham of the
parish of Hurley lying in Whetcrofte,
reaching to the king's highway called La
Pennynggestret' (Wethered, St. Mary's
Hurley, 167). The highway called Knollestret is mentioned in 1352 (ibid. 193).

4. Wethered, St. Mary's Hurley, 45.
The older vicarage stood to the north of
the stables of Hurley Manor House (ibid.).

54. Ashmole, Antiq. of Berks. iii, 478;
Lysons, op. cit. i, 299. A lease for a
year made by Sir Geoffrey Geoffreys to
Sir Henry Johnson, son-in-law and executor of Lord Lovelace, in 1699 (Add.
Chart. 26393), was probably in connexion
with the settlement of Lord Lovelace's
affairs. Sir Henry Johnson had a reversionary interest in Hurley after the
death of Lord Lovelace (see schedule of
deeds relating to Hurley, Add. MS. 22190,
fol. 238).

74. Wethered, St. Mary's Hurley, 153.
The estovers were taken into the king's
hands by the escheator, on the ground
that the release of Geoffrey de Hurley
was made in mortmain, and were not
restored until 1337 (Cal. Close, 1337–9,
p. 16).

77. It would appear that Isabel was a
second wife and not the mother of William.
To his daughter Anabel Geoffrey granted
a croft in Crockeresrowe and other tenements (1320); to Joan he granted
Clemencefield near Crockeresrowe; to
Margery he granted La Heghegrove
(1323); and to Christine he granted a rent
in Hurley (1324) (ibid. 153, 156, 157).

97. Ibid. It then consisted of 326 acres.
By 1827 it had been increased to 1,121.

98. During the minority of Sir William
East the house was let to the Duke of
Buccleugh from 1738 to 1752, and from
1752 to 1758 to Lord Folkestone, son of
the Earl of Radnor (inform. from Sir G.
A. Clayton-East).